Students pitch business ideas to entrepreneurs

Andrew Reed03/25/2016

Treasure Valley high school students are getting immersed in the world of entrepreneurship.

One Stone, a student-run service organization, is hosting the first-ever Techstars Startup Weekend, Boise Youth Edition at Boise State Venture College. The event is designed for high school teens who have a passion for technology, science, business, marketing, fashion and social issues.

“Students are here with genius ideas or with entrepreneur spirit,” said Megan Kittridge, project coordinator at One Stone. “One Stone wants to make students better leaders and a world a better place.”

More than 30 teens are participating and have 54-hours to form a team and turn an idea into a business. They’ll get the chance to pitch and develop their business idea with a group of peers and receive guidance from a diverse group of mentors and coaches.

“I’m looking at starting a nonprofit and I need ideas on how to get off the ground,” said Amelia Pluska, a junior at Boise High School. “This is new for me and I’m looking at a lifestyle in business in the future.”

On Saturday, students will present pitches to a panel of judges made up of local business leaders and entrepreneurs. The winning ideas from the event will be rolled into One Stone’s Solution Lab, a business and idea incubator for high school students.

“This event is going to propel great innovated ideas and turn them into reality,” said Kittridge.

Startup Weekend is a national program that provides entrepreneurs the chance to find co-founders, mentors and momentum for their ideas. Typically staged for an audience of recent college graduates and those beginning careers, One Stone has customized the event by offering it to high school students.

You can attend the free pitch event, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Boise State Venture College. For more information about the event, click here.

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